


It was for a good cause, I swear. And don't chastise me. You tried to do the same damn thing.

by downworldkings (900yearsoftimeandspacce)



Series: Shadowhunters Au Mondays [3]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-14 05:01:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10529466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/900yearsoftimeandspacce/pseuds/downworldkings
Summary: Week three prompt: Royalty.Magnus and Alec bust out of royal jail together (first meeting AU).





	

**Author's Note:**

> This one was kind of interesting to write. I sat down to start it and just couldn't come up with anything decent, so I just wrote the dialogue. And then later, I went back and filled in everything else. It was kind of fun.
> 
> Hope you enjoy this!!!

The door closed behind Magnus with a clank.

“George, really. I hardly think this is necessary.”

George ignored him, turning the key in the lock and stepping back, the torchlight illuminating his tangled black beard and curled mustache, making him look sinister in the darkness of the dungeon. Magnus stood on the other side of the bars, just barely within the ring of light, and he watched as George turned and began walking down the hall away from him.

“George.”

The torchlight grew farther and farther away, George’s footsteps echoing. He turned at the end of the corridor, disappearing from sight, and leaving Magnus alone in the darkness. He sighed, and turned around the face the cell; it smelt of mildew. 

Magnus walked forward, hands out in front of him, and was a few feet in front of one of the stone walls when his foot caught on something. He jumped, ready for some kind of altercation, and from below him, a low voice said, “Watch it.”

Still on guard, Magnus replied, “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

The voice huffed, and Magnus tried to scan the floor, even though it was useless. The stranger didn’t say anything else, and Magnus stood there, poised in the silence, waiting; and then he began edging his way away, toward the other side of the room until he found the wall. He sat down against it, the stones pressing against his spine, the floor hard and cold under him, ears strained for any sign of movement. But all he could hear was the slow breathing of the other person, and for a while, they just sat there, Magnus breathing in the chilly, stale air. And then he broke the silence. 

“Well, it appears as though we’ll be stuck together for some time. Might as well make each other’s acquaintance, don’t you think?”

There was no response, so Magnus continued, “Well, I guess I’ll do all the talking then. Not that I’m complaining. I do so value company who knows how to listen, and there’s no better way to spend the time.”

“I’d prefer to die well rested, thank you. So if it isn’t a  _ terrible _ inconvenience…”

Magnus looked reasonable concerned, and tried to peer across the dark dungeon as if trying to discern the stranger’s face to ascertain the veracity of the implication of the statement. 

“What?” he said, “ Who said anything about dying? For such a minor offense-”

“Attempting to steal the Queen’s crown?”

Magnus froze, although it couldn’t be observed, and when he spoke, his voice had lost much of the playfulness it had had before. 

“How do  _ you  _ know?”

“I listen.”

Magnus leaned forward toward the stranger, eyes on where he presumed them to be. 

“If you’re so clever, how did you end up down here?”

To his honest surprise, he he received an actual answer. 

“They caught me just inside the castle gate.”

Magnus smriked. 

“Caught you with what?”

“The Queen’s crown.”

Magnus’ eyebrows shot upward, and he fell back against the cold stone wall. 

“Well, that explains it. Getting into the castle isn’t usually that difficult.”

For the first time, the stranger’s voice bore a hint of genuine curiosity, losing its gruff and harsh tone in the inquiry.

“You’ve broken into the castle before?”

“A few times, sure. But I’ve never gone for the crown.”

Magnus said it with what he considered to be well deserved nonchalance, but it seemed to have aroused the stranger’s interest. When they spoke again, they retained the same tone of curiosity, but at the same time, with an inflection that suggested they thought they already knew the answer. And, well, Magnus did delight in disappointing, so he answered with perfect honesty.

“I’ve always thought I would look extravagant in gold. That, and there’s a village in the north of the kingdom that lost all of its crops in raids by the Queen’s knights, and I intended to sell her oh so cherished crown for the money to supply the entire village with food for the winter. I thought it would send a particularly clear message. And what about you? Why did  _ you _ do it?”

There was a moment of perfect stillness after Magnus’ voice faded, and in the moments before his question was answered, a palpable tension hung in the air like a rope suspended between them.

“My brother is ill. Every physician we’ve been to has said there’s nothing to be done. So I found someone who uses… alternative methods, and the price they want for saving him is the crown. They won’t do anything until they have the Queen’s crown.”

Magnus gave them a moment; when he spoke, his voice was much more gentle.

“What’s his name?”

Across the room, Magnus heard the breath they took before answering.

“Max.”

“Well, it just so happens that I know a thing or two about medicine myself. I’d be more than happy to see what I can do for him once we get out of here.”

And then their voice was once again sharp and unforgiving, and Magnus doubted he’d have the good fortune of hearing them vulnerable again.

“Thanks, but we won’t. They hang us at sunrise.”

Magnus took a breath. “Well, then we shouldn’t be sitting around, should we?”

He stood, and began edging his way along the wall, fingers running over the stones, until he reached the corner and his hands were running across metal.

“It won’t work. Don’t you think I’ve tried.”

Magnus laughed. Just one, just barely, but it was enough that it felt like he might just be right.

“Ah, but you obviously don’t have my expertise.”

Magnus heard a huff from behind him, but there was no reply; so he continued along the bars until he reached the lock. The keyhole was small, but the lock itself was quite large, smoothly welded to the thick bars, and Magnus knew there was no way they were going to be able to open it without the key. He looked over his shoulder, back into the pitch black cell, and spoke, his voice still light and teasing. 

“Oh, I’m Magnus, by the way. Magnus Bane. And you are?”

From the corner of the room, the voice came one again, gruff and low.

“Alec Lightwood.”

Magnus smirked. “Well, Alec Lightwood, you’re just going to have to trust me. Because there is a way out of here, and I just so happen to know what it is.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on Tumblr [here](https://ace-arrow-alec.tumblr.com/).


End file.
